Jeremy's Iron

Justin Z completes the Iowa gambling task, and opens up about a burgeoning interest in losing money at poker. Justin B links this to social media use. It works. Mostly. They also talk about self-driving cars (as any self-respecting podcast ought to), and a new type of male contraception inspired by a layered cocktail. Jeremy’s Iron is an excuse for two mates to geek out over science, research and publication. It’s a conversation between a biostatistician (Justin Zeltzer) and an orthopaedic surgeon (Justin Bobyn).

From the age of 5 we’ve been slip slop slapping like it was going out of style. 30 years later the jury is still out as to whether the slop was really worth it. Sunscreen is getting a bad name. But is it justified?? Other questions “answered” in this podcast: Are eggs good for you? Is there such thing as a common energy between humans? Why does it always rain on me? Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?

What does The Lady of the Lamp have to do with Magic cards and Hanson’s latest live album? Well it’s unlikely that the lads from Jeremy’s Iron have offered much in the way of segue. Consider it a sort of brutalist pastiche… half the canvas devoted to trivialites, and the other half a portrait of the most significant public health figure in history. That said, there is way more than meets the eye to Flo Jo Nightingale. She is quite a controversial figure being at once a harsh clinician and a caring confidante, a feminist and an anti-feminist.

Today we make our first interview! The (un)lucky human subjected to our line of questioning is one Brad Wong, Chief Economist at the Copenhagen Consensus Centre. The Copenhagen Consensus Centre is a think-tank that researches the smartest solutions to the world’s biggest problems, advising policy-makers and philanthopists how to spend their money most effectively. Special Guest: Brad Wong.

Initially intended as a rag on the anti-vax lobby, Justin and Justin find out that the history of vaccination is wildly more interesting than Jenny McCarthy.

The Tsimané are an indigenous people of lowland Bolivia who still remain largely isolated. We’d scoff at their low diet diversity, but their levels of heart disease and type 2 diabetes are among the lowest of any population recorded in the world. This episode is probably a good reminder that you should stop eating sherbert for breakfast. Inspiration for this week’s episode comes from the following article: Nutrition transition in 2 lowland Bolivian subsistence populations (2018) Thomas S Kraft, Jonathan Stieglitz, Benjamin C Trumble, Melanie Martin, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

So we’ve had better puns. Some didn’t even require brackets. Nonetheless, in this episode Justin and Justin wrangle with thousands of years of Chinese medical treatment. Mostly respectfully. Though definitely scientifically. It’s a story of Eastern philosophy meets Western standards of scientific evidence.

My mum still avoids M.S.G. She swears that on the occasion that she lets her guard down and chomps into a chow mein, she’s instantly attacked with a slew of palpatory, perspitory symptoms that last hours. Now anyone that’s had a chow mein from Seq Fun BBQ house in Redfern will attest that this is a pretty good trade. But the question remains: is it the M.S.G or is she merely another victim of the vicious (and spreading) nocebo virus. Have a listen and find out! Hot tip: science chat starts around 20:00.

In the third episode of Jeremy’s Iron we discuss the question that has hounded us for half a century: How do you actually set the f%king time on a microwave? Mine’s been flashing 0:00 since 1998. We look at the overwhelming research suggesting that microwaves are safe, sound and might even be better than your cooktop for nutrient retention. More importantly, we discuss the reasons why some people are still reluctant, decades on, to use this safe technology. Oh, and it’s raining. Hard.

Spoiler alert: no. The inspiration behind this week’s podcast was an article boasting 600 reasons why turmeric may be the worlds most important herb. (http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/600-reasons-turmeric-may-be-worlds-most-important-herb) Sounds impressive, though none of those 600 reasons were compelling enough for turmeric to feature in the list of the top 15 most powerful herbs (https://themysteriousworld.com/top-15-most-powerful-medicinal-plants) Notably, the #1 herb appears to “prevent against bacterial affections”. It’s almost like these kinds of articles rely on subjective opinion, conjecture and delightful typographical errors. None of that here! This week on Jeremy’s Iron we take to the scientific journals to see what hard evidence there is for magical healing properties of curcurmin (the active ingredient in turmeric).

Jeremy’s Iron is a conversation between a biostatistician (Justin Zeltzer) and an orthopaedic surgeon (Justin Bobyn). We’re exploring the bullshit of the Wellness Industry and holding its claims up to actual scientific scrutiny. With our backgrounds in medical research and medical medicine, we intend to rustle through the available research and do your homework for you. On our maiden podcast voyage, we’re attempting to answer that age old question: “will flossing my teeth cure my impotence?”. The oldest chestnut there is. Well, it might sound spurious, but this seems to be commonly understood among holistic dental professionals. What’s an holistic dental professional? Oh! Sorry. We’re actually asking. That’s not rhetoric. Please comment below. In our first episode we get into the weeds with research that does indeed surprise us with the degree to which this phenomenon has been studied and supported. As always (we predict), the devil is in the scientific detail. Listen in, subscribe, and tell your buddies.